cA? 



\ LIBRARY OF CONGRESs/ 



I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



of 



**Take this as all things are taken among friends, 
who look more at the intention of the giver, than at the 
splendor or magnitude of the thing bestowed." 



ALCYONE; 



OR, 



HEAVEN 



ALCYONE; 

OR, 

HEAVEN: 



ITS LOCALITY, ITS DU RATIO X, ITS PROXIMITY, ITS SOC' 
ITS liANaUAaE, ITS WMPIiOYMENTS. ITS GRANDEU 
TOGETHER WITH OTHER INCIDENTS, AND THE 
CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION WITHIN ITS 
SACRED ENCLOSURES; 

BY y'^ 
REV. SEPTIMUS TUSTIN, D.D., 

• LATE CHAPLAIN OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE, 

AND 

FIEST CLERICAL DELEGATE 
FROM 

THE OLD SCHOOL GENERAL ASSEMBL^* 

OF 

THh: PRESBVTKRIAN CHURCH IN U. S. A., 

IN SESSION AT PEORIA, ILLINOIS, 
1864, 

TO 

/^L-^ THE NEW SCHOOL GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 



/4 



IN SESSION AT PHILADELPHIA, PA., 
IN THE SAME YEAR, 

ON THE OCCASION OF INAUGURATING A FRIENDLY CORRESPONDENCE BETWK 
THOSE TWO BODIES, AFTER A CONSTRAINED AND PAINFUL SEPARATION 
OF NEARLY ONE THIRD OF A CENTURY. *■ -ry*-^! 




WASHINGTON CITY: 

M'aiLL & WITHEROW, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS. 
1867. 



^ 



^'"^ 






INVOCATION. 



Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, 
Pilgrim tlirough this barren land; 

I am weak, but thou art mighty, 
Hold me with thy powerful hand. 

Light of Heaven, 
Guide me all my journey through. 

When I tread the verge of Jordan, 
Bid my anxious fears subside; 

Sweetly calming all commotion, 
Land me safe on Canaan's side. 

Songs of praises 
I will ever give to thee. 



PRAYER, 



'REAT GOD, thou art seated upon the throne of uni- 
J versal dominion, and the countless worlds which hang 
^ all over the immensity of space are only as so many 
shining provinces of thy illimitable domain. We bless 
thy Hoi 3^ name, that thou hast selected this world on 
which we live in preference to all the other worlds which 
thou hast created, as the theatre on which to display the 
wonders of 'redeeming love! W^ bless thy name, that in 
the apportionment of this earth among the nations of men, 
thou hast caused the lines to fall for us in such pleasant 
places, and that thou hast given us so goodly a heritage. 
We bless thy name for the happy government under which 
we live, preserving us from the horrors of despotism on 
the one hand, and from a ferocious licentiousness, more 
to be dreaded than despotism itself, upon the other. We 
bless thy name, that in this happy land the sacred rights 
of conscience have been so fully secured to us ; that we 
are permitted to worship God, under our vine and fig tree, 
there being none to molest or to make us afraid. We bless 
thy name, that we have the Bible in our language ; that 
we are capable of reading its sacred pages, from which we 
may learn all that it is necessary for us to know, to be- 
lieve, and to do, in order to secure the friendship and favor 
of God here, and to enjoy his smiles hereafter, through 



10 PRAYER. 

the ages of eternity. We bless thy name, that thou hast 
given thine only begotten Son to die for the redemption 
of the guilty and the perishing, and to bring life and im- 
mortality to light. We bless thy name, that in returning 
to His mediatorial throne, through the dark yalley of the 
shadow of death, He has taken away the sting of death, 
illuminated the gloom of the graye, and opened the gates 
of Heayen to all true belieyers. We bless thy name, that 
He has instructed us; that in His Father's House are 
many mansions ; that He has gone to prepare a place for 
his people ; that where He is, there they may be also. We 
bless thy name, for all the information which thou hast 
vouchsafed to us, with respect to the varied appointments, 
the service and the enjoyments of the final and eternal 
dwelling place of all who truly love Thee. We bless thy 
name, that the way to our Father's House has been made 
so plain, that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not 
err therein. We bless thy name, that the terms of admis- 
sion have been made so free and so easy ; that none are 
excluded, except those who do themselves exclude. For 
all these manifest tokens of thy gracious regards and 
boundless love, we humbly beseech Thee to bestow upon 
us the blessing of a grateful heart, that we may rightly 
appreciate the Divine goodness, and be enabled and dis- 
posed to make some suitable returns for kindness so un- 
merited, and yet so exuberant and boundless. Bestow 
upon us all those qualifications of heart and of mind, 
necessary for our admission into the Kingdom of Glory. 
Grant unto us sincere and heartfelt repentance on account 
of our manifold sins and iniquities. Vouchsafe unto us 



P R A Y E H . 11 

the gift of saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, sucli a 
faith as thou, O Lord, will accept and approve, and as 
shall attach to our souls the blessing of life and salvation. 
Give us new hearts and renew right spirits within us, so 
that we may be always inclined to whatsoever is well 
pleasing in thy sight. In all things may we act under a 
sense of the Divine inspection and with respect to the 
solemn account which we are all destined soon to render 
at thy great and impartial tribunal. And when we shall 
have done with the duties and obligations of the present 
scene, when we shall have accomplished our destiny upon 
earth, whether it be humble or distinguished, grant, O 
most gracious Lord, that through abounding mercy in our 
Blessed Mediator, we who read these pages, and ail who 
are near and dear to our hearts, may be appointed to 
become so many shining links in that bright and glorious 
chain of pure and celestial intelligences, which shall en- 
circle and beautify the throne of God forever and ever, 
and whilst ours will be the boundless bliss, thine shall be 
the boundless glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in a 
•Id without end. Amen. 



TO 

HENRY D. COOKE, Esq., 

( BANKER, ) 

A CHRISTIAN GENTLEMAN, 

DISTINGUISHED FOR THE URBANITY OF HIS MANNERS 

AND 

THE BENEVOLENCE OF HIS HEART J 

HIS HAND EVER READY TO RELIEVE THE DISTRESSED, AND TO 
AID THE MERITORIOUS 5 

®h)is ^ittlc U0lttt«e, 

DIMLY POINTIiNG TO THE BRIGHT REWARDS OF THE GOOD AND GENEROUS, 
IS , 
KESPECTFUIiLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED 

BY 
HIS SINCEKE AND OBLIGED FRIEND, 

THE AUTHOR. 



INTEODUCTION. 



Rev. peter PARKER, M. D., 

President of the Bible Society of Washington Oity, D. C. 

Dear and Rev. Brother: Several years ago, as you 
are aware, 1 ventured upon the uncertain sea of author- 
ship, by issuing under the frail protection of my humble 
name the first edition of a little volume, entitled **The 
Doubting Communicant Encouraged. ' ' The character and 
the pretension of that tiny adventurer are indicated in a 
brief address to my life-long friend, Kev. William Neill, 
D. D., of Philadelphia, now, as I doubt not, at rest in 
Heaven. 

The acceptableness of that unpretending volume to the 
modest and timid disciples of Christ, young and old, as 
indicated by expressions of gratitude — some of them more 
substantial than pleasant words — however acceptable in 
many instances these may have been, have induced me, 
before I go hence, to venture once more upon this uncer- 
tain sea. 

If this tiny barque, in unfurling its canvass to invite 
the popular breeze, so essential to life and progress, should 
be fortunate enough to attract any attention whatever, it 
will, of course, share in the common destiny of all simi- 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

lar enterprises, as happily indicated by D' Israeli in his 
** Quarrels of Authors." 

By some, I doubt not, it will be regarded as a frail struc- 
ture, characteristic of its author. By others it will be 
regarded as constructed out of ancient and worm-eaten 
materials, and destined to a speedy oblivion. By others 
again it will be regarded as unworthy even of an unkind 
or censorious remark. By others again, like yourself and 
the noble gentleman to whom it is dedicated, and other 
kindred spirits, it will be read with kindness and consid- 
eration, regarding with favor the motives which prompted 
the production, and liiaking due allowance for the unto- 
ward circumstances of age and intirmity by which its 
value and importance may have been somewhat impaired. 
Beside the hope of being useful, and perhaps kindly re- 
membered, when my humble name shall haA^e been erased 
from the register of the living, I have thought that I might, 
perhaps, enjoy a spiritual, reflex advantage, by having 
my own thoughts more earnestly, if not intensely, drawn 
towards my final and eternal home, and be thus aided in 
making a better preparation for that solemn interview, 
which must sooner or later take place between the 7m- 
maeulate One and every soul of man. 

Duly estimating your high character as a Christian gen- 
tleman, the pages of whose history have been brightened 
by deeds of piety and benevolence in foreign lands, as well 
as in the land of your nativity, I have ventured, without 
your knowledge and consent, to connect your honored 
name with this hidrush ark^ which, with its modest freight, 
and timid helmsman, I place in the flags on the banks of 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

a river, more fluctuating than the historic waters of the 
Nile, and bespeak for it a smile of encouragement and a 
word of kindness. 

Whatever may be the true theory of the future dwelling 
place of the people of God, whether it be the glowing ^iS'itTi, 
the regenerated Earth, the Alcyone of the Pleiades, or any 
other shining province of God's illimitable domain, I 
trust, that by the help of Divine grace and the influence 
of the Holy Spirit, we, and all who are dear to us, may be 
enabled so to discharge the duties >vhich we owe to God, 
the Triune God, the Church, the wo^ and ourselves, that 
we may at last hear from those blessed lips, which once 
trembled in death for sinners, the solil- cheering plaudit: 
" Well done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the 
joys of your Lord." 

In the faith and hope of the Gospel of the Son of God, I 
remain. 

Your friend and brother, 

SEPTIMUS TUSTIN. 

"The Cottage," 

Washington, D. C, 1867. 



ALCYONE. 



" Where is the star Alcyone ? 
Gaze far beyond the milky way, 
Find where Pleiades gently sway 
All worlds, all systems, as they roll, 
Where dwells the elemental soul, 
Where nights have ceased, and light to bless 
Beams from, the Sun of Righteousness : 

There is the star Alcyone." 



ALCYONE; 

OE, 

HEAVEN: 

Its Locality— its Duration— its Proximity —its Society— its Lan- 
guage—its Employments— its Grandeur— with other incidents, 
and the Conditions of Admission within its sacred enclosures. 



It is natural for those who are travelling to a 
distant city, or an unknown land, in which they 
expect to secure and enjoy a permanent Home, 
to inquire frequently concerning the soil, the cli- 
mate, the scenery of that other country, the pur- 
suits of the people, together with their habits and 
modes of intercourse. And all such as volun- 
tarily consent to change their habitation from one 
portion of this terraqueous globe to another, with- 
out having first made these or similar inquiries, 
will be considered as singularly negligent of their 
own prospective earthly comfort, and the comfort . 
of those who, in the Providence of God, may be 



22 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

dependent upon them for sustenance and protec- 
tion. It cannot be surprising, therefore, that 
Christians, pilgrims on earth, travellers to the 
Kingdom of Heaven, should occasionally, in this 
the house of their pilgrimage, desire to lift the veil 
which hides from their present view the spires of 
the city, or the scenery of the country, in the 
midst of which they expect to pitch, not a tempo- 
rary tent, but to find a permanent and an unchang- 
ing home. 

It is proposed, in the following unpretending 
pages, to gather up from the sacred Scriptures, 
and other sources of sacred wisdom, whether 
among the living or the dead, such information as 
may serve to encourage and animate the weary 
sojourner in this vale of tears to press on, with 
unfaltering step, towards the heavenly inheritance, 
assured that the end, when once attained, and the 
object, when once secured, will — 

" Make amends for aU liis toils, 
While on the road." 

The destiny of the body after death, is readily 
ascertained. We see it deposited in the grave — 
we mark, with a visible monument, the place of 
its sepulture — we plant flowers upon the incum- 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 23 

bent earth, and we go, from time to time, to inhale 
the fragrance of those flowers, and to refresh them 
with our tears; but where is the soul? What has 
become of the immortal spirit that once occupied 
the clay tenement that now lies crumbling to dust 
in the city of the dead? This is the question 
which concerns us most, and to this the reader is 
invited to "give the most earnest heed." 

I need not say that, even among the most en- 
lightened nations of antiquity, great diversity of 
opinion has existed with respect to the future state 
and condition of the soul of man. The Jews once 
accurately instructed by God himself upon this 
subject, subsequently indulged in the wildest rev- 
eries, and adopted the most absurd notions. Many 
of them evidently adopted the doctrine of the 
transmigration of souls into other bodies, hence 
that strange question, put by the disciples to our 
Saviour, with respect to the man who was born 
blind: "Master, who did sin, this man or his pa- 
rents, that he was born blind;" evidently imply- 
ing that the man had previously existed, and that 
his affliction was, or might have been, the penalty 
of sins committed in that previous existence 
Hence, too, their opinion with respect to our Sa- 



-4 ALCYO'E. OR HEATEX. 

viour, that he was Elijah or Jeremiah, or one of 
the old prophets, in another form and body. 

Some of the early Christians adopted the theory 
that the souk of believers at death departed into a 
state of perfect happiness, and received their full 
reward, and that the soul needed no body to make 
it happy; that the body would only be an incum- 
brance; and hence they repudiated the doctrine of 
the resurrection of the body from the 2:rave. 

To counteract this theory, which occasioned 
much perplexity and trouble to the Primitive 
Church, some of the early fathers maintained that 
the souls of hdievers^ and it is only of such that we 
propose to speak in this treatise, remained in a 
state of unconscious slumber until they received 
their bodies back again from the grave. They 
leaped into the opposite error. In avoiding Scylla, 
they sunered themselves to be carried into Char- 
ybdis. They taught that the soul would not 
enjoy happiness and glory without the body. 

Another class flattered themselves that they 
could obviate the ditiici^lty, and reconcile opposing 
parties, by avoiding the extremes of each of the 
conflicting opinions referred to. and assuming a 
middle position. They went fiarther than the one, 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 25 

and not so far as the other. They held that the 
departed soul, in its separate condition, was capa- 
ble, to some limited extent, of knowing, loving, 
and serving the God who made it and redeemed 
it; but that, until the reunion of these old compan- 
ions — the soul and the bod?/ — they were not per- 
fect in anything, neither in holiness nor happiness. 
They had some capacity of enjoyment; bu.t they 
were not received into Heaven, but were retained 
in a place apart from Heaven until they received 
their bodies back from the grave on the morning 
of the resurrection. This doctrine of an interme- 
diate place, held by some of the ancient fathers, 
has been, within the few last years, considerably 
agitated in the Protestant and Reformed Churches 
of England, and also in this country, and is ac- 
cepted by some whose opinions are entitled to 
respect and consideration. 

This intermediate place, says a sensible writer, is 
not Heaven. It is apart from Heaven. It is in 
the lower parts of the earth. It is the prison, as 
its advocates say, into which Christ went and 
preached to the spirits there. It is a place of 
shade — of gloom — of repose. It is always repre- 
sented, says Campbell, under those figures which 



26 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

suggest something dark and silent, about which 
the most prying eye and listening ear can acquire 
no certain or definite information. 

This inter inediate place, according to the views 
entertained and expressed by its advocates, has 
two compartments — the one less gloomy and more 
pleasant than the other. Into the better compart- 
ment the souls of the righteous descend at death, 
where they remain until the day when their hap- 
piness shall be j)erfected by their introduction into 
the more immediate presence of God. Into the 
other, and less comfortable compartment, the souls 
of the wicked descend, where they await the final 
sentence, which is to complete their sad and fear- 
ful destiny. Upon this branch of the subject it is 
not our purpose to dwelh Our object is to speak 
exclusively of Seaven, the future and final home 
of the people of God. Before, however, passing 
from this subject to the special object contem- 
plated by this publication, it may not be improper 
to suggest that, in order to a better understanding 
of the matter in hand, the reader must be careful 
not to confound what is theologically denominated 
the intermediate state, with what is understood by 
the intermediate place. The questions are widely 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 27 

diif^'ent. At death, the souls of the truly pious 
enter upon the enjoyment of the heavenly state, 
separate and apart from the body, until the resur- 
rection day. On that day, soul and body are 
reunited, and conjointly experience the joys and 
raptures of the heavenly world. IsTow, this is the 
intermediate state of departed souls of the pious 
during the period of time which intervenes be- 
tween the hour of death and the day of judgment. 
That is to say, that the body being deposited in 
the grave, and remaining there under the domin- 
ion of death until the resurrection morning, the 
soul must, of necessity, enjoy the blessedness of 
Heaven, irrespective and independent of the body, 
until the hour of reunion shall come. Against the 
intermediate state, as thus explained and under- 
stood, we have nothing to say. It is, evidently, 
the doctrine of the Scriptures. 

With regard, however, to the doctrine of an 
intermediate place, we feel constrained to reject the 
theory, as having no foundation in the Word of 
God, however plausible some of the reasons as- 
signed by its advocates — and which we have not 
space to consider — may appear to those whose 
mental proclivities may incline them to view this 



28 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

dogma with favor. We regard it as of dangerous 
influence. Were it to be accepted by the Christian 
Church generally, it would be followed, in a few 
years, in all probability, by prayers for the dead, 
and with the doctrine of future probation and res- 
toration ; perhaps, with all the errors of purgatory^ 
of which it seems to be the vestibule or entrance. 
This was the course which this error took in the 
ancient churchy and there is reason to apprehend 
it would pursue the same direction again, if exten- 
sively countenanced and received. 

We come now to consider what we believe to 
be the true scriptural theory of this most interest- 
ing and absorbing subject. The orthodox opinion, 
then, is, that the soul, upon its release from the 
body, being made perfect in holiness, passes imme- 
diately into glory, without any detention what- 
ever at either the intermediate place or at Purga- 
tory^ with a view to purification and a better pre- 
paration for the purity or holiness which pervades 
the presence chamber of the Thrice Holy One, 

The blood of Jesus, which is our only passport 
to Heaven, "cleanses from all sin;" and, while it 
secures for us a promjot and ready admission into 
th€ mansions prepared for us in our Father's House 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 29 

above, at the same time clothes us in the spotless 
robe of the Eedeemer's righteousness, and thus, in 
purity and holiness, makes us equal to the Angels 
which kept their first estate. 

That Heaven is a place, and not merely a state ^ 
as some affirm, is evident from the teachings of 
the Old and the New Testament Scriptures. Be- 
sides being called a kingdom, a city, a mansion, a 
building of God, the emphatic language of our 
Saviour to his disconsolate disciples, on the eve of 
his departure from earth to reassume his throne 
in Heaven, is ample and conclusive. 

"Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in 
God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are 
many mansions; if it were not so, I would have 
told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and, if 
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again 
and receive you unto myself, that where I am, 
there ye may be also." 

With this, other scriptural declarations and re- 
corded incidents, correspond. The ascension of 
Elijah may be regarded as an occular demonstra- 
tion that a place has been provided for those whom 
infinite wisdom and goodness may call awa}'- to 
other scenes and employments; for it cannot be 



30 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

supposed for a moment that the honored Prophet 
of the Lord, who was graciously exempted from a 
portion of the sad penalty of the first transgres- 
sion, and permitted to pass away from earth with- 
out experiencing either 

"The pain or bliss of dying," 

has been whirling and wandering — if we may so 
speak — in his fiery chariot, through etherial and 
undefined space, from the bright and eventful hour 
of his ascension until the*present time. What has 
not been permitted to transpire with regard to 
the immediate destiny of Elijah, Avill not be per- 
mitted to transpire with respect to others of God's 
people, who, though less distinguished by the visi- 
ble tokens of the Divine favor, are not less the 
objects of Jehovah's gracious care and affection, 
and concerning whom we are instructed, and au- 
thorized to believe, that after death, leaving their 
bodies temporarily in the grave, their spirits, 
washed and sanctified by atoning blood, do pass 
immediately into glory. 

If these views be accepted, then, the locality of 
Heaven becomes something more than a question 
.of idle curiosity. Surely we shall be pardoned if 
• we desire, not only to know that we have a home, 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 31 

in some terra incognita^ when we are called to leave 
these scenes of probation and trial, but to know, 
if possible, something about the probable, if not 
certain, locality of that home. We would not at- 
tempt, presumptuously, to pierce the veil which 
conceals futurity from our view, or arrogate to 
ourselves attributes which are among the reserved 
prerogatives of the Deity, yet we may, without 
unseemly pretension, under the light which beams 
from the sacred Scriptures, and the guidance of en- 
lightened reason, employ whatever of mental power 
or capacity of research have been vouchsafed to 
us by infinite wisdom and goodness, in learning 
what we can of our future home and destiny. 

Among the various theories which have been 
suggested on this branch of theological inquiry, the 
theory propounded by Chalmers is, perhaps, among 
the most plausible and easy of acceptance. His 
great and highly illuminated mind conceived the 
idea founded on a familiar passage of Scripture, 
*' and I saw a new heaven and a new earth, wherein 
(iwelleth righeousness," that this earth was des- 
tined, in its future history, to be consumed, and 
then purified by the fires of the final confiagration, 
and thus renovated and purified, to become the 



32 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

future home of the redeemed of all nations, kin- 
dreds, tribes, and people, under the blue canopy of 
Heaven. We have only space to state the theory 
without the reasons or considerations by which it 
is sustained. Looking at this theory in the light 
which we possess, it seems to be liable to an insur- 
mountable objection and difficulty, because it leaves 
the departed saints of past generations, from the 
days of Enoch down to the present hour, without 
a home or a resting place. 

It seems difficult to suj^pose that the Deity would 
be content, either to allow his departed people to 
dwell in vacuo, or to float in ether, or to wander, 
as intimated elsewhere, through the illimitable 
space which encompasses the globe in its present 
condition, or to appoint to them a temporary tab- 
ernacle like that of the Israelites in the wilder- 
ness, to be pitched at one point for a night, and 
then be transferred, as occasion might require, to 
some other locality in the morning, nor are worlds 
so scarce as to make such an order of things at 
all necessary. It is with great hesitation and diffi- 
dence that we dissent from one of the greatest 
theological lights which ever burned in the temple 
of God below; and it is quite possible that, with 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 33 

his present experience and enlarged capacity, he 
might obviate this and all other objections to this 
theory; but, in the absence of that additional light 
and information, we feel constrained to enter our 
modest dissent, and to decline the adoption of this 
suggestion, however eminent the source whence 
it emanated. 

^ There are other theories which have also the 
advantage of plausibility to recommend them to 
our favorable notice and consideration, and a 
j)age or two may be devoted profitably to their 
examination, if it is only to exhibit, by contrast, 
the superiority of the theorj^ which we regard 
with more favor than any other which has fallen 
under our observation. The ancient heathen 
many of them wise and anxiously inquiring men, 
supposed that the scjn would be the final bright 
and beautiful home of the spirits of the departed 
dead. This is a natural theory, and it is not to 
be wondered at that it was regarded with favor 
by those who learned all their lessons of theology 
from the dim light which emanates from the ob- 
scure lamp of nature, and that they should, in 
view of the manifold blessings of light and life 

and joy which attend the presence of the sun, 
3 



34 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

regard that glorious luminary as an object of wor- 
ship, or, at least, as a magnificent cathedral, in 
which the spirits of the departed dead should 
dwell and worship together through all the ages 
of the future. This theory, though grand and 
plausible, seems to have nothing but the wishes 
and imaginations of its advocates to sustain it; 
at all events, we are ignorant of any other evi- 
dence; and while we would treat many of the 
opinions of the sava/is of ancient times with 
great consideration and respect, yet. in the ab- 
sence of the light which beams from the sacred 
volume, we hesitate to incorporate their opinions 
upon theological sabjects among the essential ar- 
ticles of our relio'ioiis belief lest like ••hav, wood, 
and stubble,'' they should be consumed by the 
brightness of the Saviour's coming, and we be 
left to bewail our premature if not unwarrantable 
credulity. 

Another theory represents Heaven as a place in 
sorn.e remote part of infinite and indefinite space, 
in which the Omnipotent Deity is said to afford a 
nearer and more immediate view of Himself, and 
a more sensible manifestation of His glory than 
in other paits of the universe. 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 35 

Although this theory is without any acknowl- 
edged paternity, yet it is generally accepted and 
recognized. It is, however, very unsatisfactory, 
and will not endure the test of a searching Scrip- 
tural or philosophical scrutiny. While the great 
Creator has been so lavish of His goodness in 
creating worlds upon worlds^ loithoiit number, and 
having furnished us with so many means of infor- 
mation with respect to almost every possible sub- 
ject of interest to His intelligent creatures, and 
especially His redeemed children, teaching them 
everything which it is necessary for us to know, 
to believe and to do^ in order to secure His friend- 
ship and His favor, it seems strange that He 
should have left us in such impenetrable and in- 
surmountable ignorance with respect to the local- 
ity of our final Home and place of eternal repose. 
Have we employed all the powers with which we 
are endowed in reaching this important point, so 
essential to our comfort? How is it that, after 
the lapse of centuries, it should be left to recent 
developments of science to shed such a stream of 
light upon this subject, as to fill the mind with 
astonishment and gratitude ? Was it timidity or 
indolence that prevented the revelation of the im- 



36 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

port of the sublime interrogatory of the Patriarch 
of Uz : '' Canst thou bind the sweet influences of 
the Pleiades?" This indefinite theory, however 
extensively accepted and approved, does not meet 
our wants nor satisfy our desires — our anxious 
desires and inquiries — respecting the locality of 
our future and eternal home. 

All the several theories which have claimed our 
attention must disappear, in our humble opinion, 
like the stars before the advancing sun, when 
brought into competition with tlie more recent 
and truly sublime theory which recognizes, as al- 
ready intimated, Alcyone as the central Palace of 
Jehovah's Kingdom — the residence of Sis August 
Throne — the bright de;pository of His scepter and 
His crown — the archives of His reign — the records 
of His administration — the council chamber of Eter- 
nity — andj finally J the future and eternal Home of 
His redeemed children. '■'■For where I am there ye 
shall be also'' 

As this theory is somewhat novel, though by 
no means original with the writer, it may not be 
out of place to announce it somewhat at length 
and in detail, for the benefit and instruction of 
those who may not have had the leisure or the 



37 

inclination to bestow upon it the attention or re- 
search which it may properly deserve and chal- 
lenge. 

We are taught alike by the book of nature and 
the volume of inspiration that Jehovah, the Great 
First Cause of all things, is infinite in all His at- 
tributes and perfections, and the boundless uni- 
verse which He has created bears in thisfl'espect 
the sublime impress of its great Author. 

The sublime science of astronomy teaches us 
that every star, visible to the naked eye or dis- 
closed by telescopic power, is •probably the centre 
of a system^ vast and extensive as that of which 
the planet on which we dwell, forms a compara- 
tively insignificant or subordinate part. Now the 
stern teachings of philosophy compel the conces- 
sion that there must be a central orb, on which, as 
on a pivot or axle, this vast complex machinery 
must and does majestically revolve. The recent 
developments of science, in a manner and under 
circumstances calculated to awaken the astonish- 
ment and admiration of the world, has brought 
to light the sublime fact i^A^i^ Alcyone, fAe brightest 
star in the cluster known as the Pleiades, is that 
CENTRE; and by the most wonderful disclosure of 



38 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

the Divine mind, through the medium of revela- 
tion, that glowing centre was indicated centuries 
ago in the Book of Joh^ by its inspired author, who 
challenges the combined power of earth to arrest 
its attractive forces or retard or neutralize its 
genial influences. ^' Canst thou bind the sweet in- 
fluences of the Pleiades?^' 

Thelfcheory which we prefer, if not prepared 
fully to adopt, when stripped of those technicalities 
which would serve rather to embarrass than to 
edify the class of readers for whose benefit this 
little treatise is especially composed, may be stated 
in the following manner: 

There is in the Heavens above us, in the constel- 
lation Taurus^ an irregular cluster of stars, famil- 
iarly known to us as thd Pleiades. The cognomen 
of that cluster of stars has 'become familiar to all 
readers of the Scriptures by that somewhat ob- 
scure and enigmatical interrogatory in the Book 
of Job: "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of 
the Pleiades?" which, according to the prevailing 
opinion of the age, simply meant, as if God had 
said, "Canst thou hinder or retard the genial sea- 
son of the spring?" supposed to have been caused 
or controlled by the peculiar position of the Plei- 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 39 

ades ill the sky at that season. It remained for 
science to make a grander and wider application 
of this interrogatory of Job, and to show in this 
as in other matters that the^ible is so formed as 
to expand its horizon with the august march of 
scientific discovery, whether it be in astronomy, 
geology, chemistry, or natural philosophy, or any 
other subject illustrative of the power or goodness 
of Jehovah! If we examine the text in the orig- 
inal we find that the Chaldaic word translated in 
our version Pleiades, is chiniah, which literally 
means a Mnge^ a pivot, or an axle, which turn's 
round and moves other bodies along with it. 

Now, strange to say, a star, in the group of 
stars thas characterized, has recently been ascer- 
tained by a series of independent calculations, in 
utter ignorance of the meaning of the text, to be 
actually the pivot or axle around w^hich the solar 
system revolves. This subject is more fully elabo- 
rated by Eev. Hugh MacMillan, in a volume writ- 
ten with great force and beauty, entitled ''The 
Bible Teacliings of Nature.'^ 

Accepting this statement as fully established by 
astronomical research and discovery, an anony- 



40 ALCYONEj OR HEAYEN. 

moiis writer^ pertinently inquires: May there not 
be in tlie centre of the universe a great and glori- 
ous icorld, so much greater than any other, per- 
haps than all otherll combined, that it controls 
their motion and 'causes them to circle around it 
by its attractive powers, and may not this cen- 
tral ORB BE HEAVEN? This thought is neither 
unreasonable nor un philosophical. It is surely not 
unreasonable to suppose that the dioelling place 
of Jehovah^ in which He has set His Throne, and 
where He manifests His special presence, is loca- 
ted in the centre of the universe^ and that from 
this central place of power and majesty proceed 
His laws, both physical and moral, which control 
and govern the universe. Nor is it iinphUosoph- 
ical. Astronomers tell us that all the stars seem 
to be revolving around one central star, Alcyone, 
the brightest and most beautiful of the Pleiades 
in the constellation Taurus. 'Now whether Alcy- 
one is the great central orb of the universe, or 
whether it, with all its attendant solar systems, is 
only one of the countless systems which, rolling 
in space, far removed from the reach of mortal 
vision, revolve around the one great central orh of 

* Rev Dr. Maclise. 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 41 

the whole created universe, we shall probably in 
this life never know. But z/ Alcyone is the central 
orbj the glowing hinge or pivot round which all other 
worlds revolve^ then we again inquire: May not this 
he the locality of Heaven ? 

MAY NOT ALCYONE BE HEAVEN? 

At the risk of being thought iraaginative and 
fancifal we confess that our convictions strongly 
incline us to answer these questions affirmatively, 
and to declare our preference for this, above all 
other theories of which we have ever heard or read 
respecting the locality of Heaven. In the absence 
of positive proof or inspired revelation to the con- 
trary, we hesitate not to say that the ])robabilitie8 
are all in favor of this theory, attractive as it is 
beautiful and sublime^ reasonable and philosophical. 

Having thus with becoming diffidence, as we 
trusts, expressed our view^s as to the possible and 
even probable locality of Heaven^ so far, at least, 
as our limits will permit, we will now proceed to 
notice some kindred questions, and the first of 
them relates to the 

DURABILITY OF HEAVEN. 

The durability of Heaven is established by the 
immutability of its Pounder. He is the same yes- 



42 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

terday, to-day, and forever, without variableness 
or the shadow of turning, and His dwelling-place 
is equally permanent and unchangeable. Other 
cities have been built and existed through success- 
ive generations — have been the objects of envy 
or admiration — illustrated the arts and fostered 
commerce — have exhibited the memorials of peace 
and the trophies of war, and having fulfilled their 
appropriate destiny, liave vanished like the base- 
less fabric of an ephemeral vision, so that even 
the places on which they stood have in some 
instances become a matter of doubt and uncer- 
tainty. Babylon, Ninevah, Tyre, Jerusalem, and 
many others, the pride and glory of their foun- 
ders, are among the cities that icere^ hut are not. 
Even the everlasting Pyramids are yielding to 
the gnawing tooth of Time^ and will ere long, like 
their projectors and builders, crumble into dust. 
But the Home of Grod^ the immortal and unchange- 
able God, knows no vicissitude or decay. And as 
God's people dwell w^ith God according to His 
faithful and unchangeable promise, we conclude 
that ''when the earthly house of this tabernacle 
shall be dissolved, we have a building of God, an 
house not made with hands, eternal in the hea- 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 43 

vens." Then perish, if ye will, all earthly de- 
lights! Let all that is connected with our sojourn 
here be disturbed and destroyed, let the earth it- 
self return to its original chaos and become what 
it was, rudis iiidigestaque moles^ a rude and un- 
shapen pile, still the foundations of the City of 
God will remain unimpaired, and its glittering 
spires will continue to be brightened with the 
rays of heavenly light which stream perpetually 
from Jehovah's holy and unchanging throne. 
The uncertainty of our earthly joys diminishes 
largely the pleasures of possession. However at- 
tractive our earthly homes ma}^ be, the thought 
that they are liable to accident or change, and 
that we must sooner or later be separated from 
these objects of our pride and sources of comfort, 
serves not a little to slacken our hold and dimin- 
ish our ardor. But with regard to our other and 
better home, there need be no such apprehensions 
indulged, and no such abatement of our joys 
demanded. For permanency^ enduring permanency, 
will be written in golden capitals upon every ob- 
ject which shall meet our grateful and admiring 
gaze. Next to the sweet song of redeeming love, 

"Ever with the Lord," 



44 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

shall be the animatiDg theme of the blessed and 
the saved — 

" VTiile life or thought or being last, 
Or iinmortality endures." 

And when we reach the old homestead in heaven, 
the bright and eheerfal mansion prepared for ns 
in our Father's house above, in view of its rich 
and ample j)rovisions and its unchangeable dura- 
bility, we shall join with all the ransomed of the 
Lord Id singing, in sweeter strains than earth has 
ever heard — 

" Home, home, sweet, sweet home— 
There's no place like home." 

Another interesting and kindred topic, upon 
which we may bestow profitably a few moments' 
reflection, is the 

PROXIMITY OF HEAVEN. 

In considering a subject like the one under con- 
sideration, we cannot recognize the intervention 
of mathematical admeasurement. Astronomers 
tell us that Alcyone is so many millions of miles 
distant from the earth, that the arrow from the 
bow of the ancient archer, which ignited in its 
hasty passage through the clouds, would grow- 
weary in its protracted journey from this point 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 45 

to that. It is to bo remembered, however, that 
the flight of a spirit like the functions of faith an- 
nihilates distance, and brings the mansions of the 
blest into near and almost immediate proximity 
to us. It was after the sun had passed the meri- 
dian when the crucified Kedeemer assured the ex- 
piring and repentant malefactor, who hung bleed- 
ing at his side, that before that evening sun 
should complete its eventful course — for since it 
was set in the heavens it had measured no such 
hours as these — they would stand together, the 
Eedeemer and the redeemed, in the presence 
chamber of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 
"Verily, verily I say unto thee, this day thou 
shalt be with me in Paradise," — the third Hea- 
vens — in which the great Apostle of the Gentiles 
saw things too wonderful for human and unaided 
credulity to accept, and therefore unlawful to be 
uttered among those who had not been favored 
with similar views of the City, the Palace and the 
Throne of God. 

What is true of this case may be true of all 
other cases, and we shall not therefore multiply 
arguments or illustrations, which might only serve 
to encumber or embarrass a subject which, in all 



46 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

its aspects and attributeSj we desire to present 
with simplicity and clearness, even theugh our 
reputation for erudition and research might be 
enhanced by an opposite course. 

The sainted Payson seems to have considered 
himself Yerj near to the residence of the blessed 
when, upon the eve of his departure from the 
shores of time, he exclaimed in the language of 
confidence and joy — 

*• Tlie celestial city is full in my view." 

Some one else, whose narae we cannot now j'e- 
call, equally favored with the vision of the near- 
ness of the future home of the blessed, seems to 
have adopted as the motto of his shield — 

"Sudden death, 
Sudden glory." 

The Apostle Paul seems also to have had similar 
conceptions of the irroximity of heavenly glory. 
For when called to accept the crown of martyr- 
dom, and the axe of the executioner was swing- 
ing in the air and ready to descend and perform 
its fearful mission, the venerable, servant of God 
exclaimed, '^I have finished my course, I have 
kept the faith; henceforth, from this moment, 
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 47 

which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give 
me on that day, and not to me only, but to all 
who love his appearing." 

There is but a step between the believer and 
heaven — absent from the body — present with the 
Lord. We therefore gently, in this sense, demur 
to the sentiment which so often warbles on in- 
fantile tongues: 

" There is a liappy land, 
Far, far away." 

Another question which naturally claims our 
attention is of whom will 

THE SOCIETY OF HEAVEN 

be composed? 

In answer to this we reply that the various 
orders of angels will, we doubt not, contribute 
largely to swell the shining ranks which move in 
perpetual harmony around the viewless throne o 
God and the Lamb. We pause not to prove the 
existence of this order of celestial intelligences, 
but receive it as plainly and distinctly taught in 
the sacred Scriptures. For when man was first 
created, these morning stars sang together and 
these sons of God shouted for joy. When a way 
was to be promulgated by which sinners could be 



48 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

saved, though not personall}^ interested in the 
proclamation, 3^011 remember how they spread 
their broad pinions and flew swifter than the 
wind to tell the news of which their glowing 
hearts was full. You have not forgotten in what 
seraphic strains they broke the midnight stillness 
which hung over the plains of Bethlehem whife 
they announced to the watchful shepherds that a 
Saviour was born. When the blushing prodigal, 
penitent for his wandering, returns to the Sa- 
viour's arms and seeks salvation through trie 
blood of His cross, their joys are increased, and 
their renewed hallelujahs cause the vaults of the 
upper temple to resound with sweeter and loftier 
strains of heavenly melody. They have kindly 
watched over us during the sorrows and vicissi- 
tudes of the past, and will continue their friendly 
ministrations until we are safely lodged in the 
bosom of God. 

These bright intelligences^ countless in num- 
bers, with all their power, glory, holiness, and 
love, will form, as already intimated, no inconsid- 
erable part of the society of the Heavenly world. 
To these celestial intelligences will be added all 
the Patriarchs, Apostles, Martyrs, and Confessors, 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 49 

" Who lived unknown, 
Till persecution dragged them into fame 
And chased them up to heaven." 

All those great and good men of past generations, 
who have instructed and encouraged us by their 
writing, and have bequeathed to us the rich leg- 
acy of their bright example and the sweet fra- 
grance of their memory, but whose faces we have 
never seen in the flesh, will also contribute to aug- 
ment that multitude which no men can number. 
All the various tribes of earth will contribute 
their assessment to the society of the redeemed, 
for they shall come from the east and from the 
west, from the north and from the south, and 
shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
in the kingdom of heaven. Our immediate rela- 
tives and friends, who have lived and died in the 
faith of the Gospel, will also constitute a part — a 
precious part — of that mighty throng whose song 
shall be "like the voice of much people, and as the 
voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty 
thunderings." The pious father who often coun- 
selled and instructed us in the days of our child- 
hood and adolescence, and who, with the morning 
and evening sacrifice from the domestic altar, sent 
4 



50 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

Tip the voice of intercession, fragrant with love 
and affection, that God would be the guide of our 
youth, will be there. The blessed mother on 
whose knees we used to place our little hands to 
pray, and who first taught us to turn our infant 
faces to the skies and say --Our Father which ai*t 
in heaven," will be there. The bereaved wife 
will see the husband of her affection and confi- 
dence, upon whose manly arm she was wont to 
lean during her pilgrimage upon earth, until God 
chose to remove the staff -of her strength and to 
extinguish the light of her house, and leave her 
to complete her journey through life in sadness 
and solitude. There the husband beholds the wife 
of his youth, upon whom was concentrated his 
warmest earthlj- affection, unexpectedly torn from 
his embraces, at a time when he fondly anticipated 
an accession to his household, which would aug- 
ment their joys and render her doubly dear to his 
soul. Others, who have been united to us by the 
ties of consanguinity and affection, and have been 
united to Jesus by the stronger cords of faith and 
love, will also mingle in the mighty throng of 
the blessed and saved. In a word, all who have 
been rescued from the desolations of the apostacy 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 51 

from the time that righteous Abel bent alone a 
redeemed saint before his rural altar, typifying by 
his sacrifice, the Lamb of God who taketh away 
the sin of the world, down to the period when 
the last wanderer on the shores of Time shall 
strike his ephemeral tent and pass over the river 
of death to take possession of his purchased in- 
heritance, and cast his crown at the feet of re- 
deeming love, will be your companions and asso- 
ciates forever. 

It will also be acceptable to many a riven and 
bleeding heart to be informed upon authority 
which cannot be questioned that little children^ 
whose lovely forms have been torn from the re- 
luctant arms of idolizing parents and conveyed 
to the cold embraces of the grave, will be among 
the number of those who will join in the song of 
the redeemed, saying unto Him who has loved us 
and washed us from our sins (original and actual) 
in His own most precious blood, "To Him be 
glory midi dominion and power and majesty and 
might, forever and ever." This statement with 
respect to little children, be it remembered, is in 
express accordance with the teachings of Jesus, 
who, in the days of His humiliation, took little 



52 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

children in His arms and blessed them, and said, 
" Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven." 

This declaration of Jesus, the great Teacher 
sent from God, consigns to oblivion all those theo- 
ries or opinions, from whatever source they may 
emanate, which are unfavorable or antagonistic 
to the doctrine of the future and eternal salvation 
of little children. AYe are aware that, in the face 
of these emphatic teachings, there are to be found 
some heartless theologians who, upon theological 
grounds, have had the hardihood to entertain and 
the temerity to express more than a hesitating 
doubt with respect to the salvation of infants, 
even though dying before they had reached or 
crossed the line of accountability. Against this 
horrid dogma which transforms the Merciful One 
into a merciless tyrant^ we pronounce our unmiti- 
gated abhorrence and condemnation, as a foul im- 
putation upon the goodness and mercy of Him, 
the great Father of mankind, Avho has imaged 
forth His tenderness even to those who have of- 
fended against Him, much more ^' those who have 
not sinned after the similitude of Adam's trans- 
gression" by that of a father towards his children. 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 53 

saying that ''like as a father pitieth his children, 
so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him, for He 
knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are 
dust." Nor can we accept the suggestion charac- 
terized by less cruelty and sustained by greater 
plausibility, viz.: that, inasmuch as children dying 
in infancy have been incapable of moral action, 
so they must of necessity be disqualified for either 
the rewards of obedience or the penalty of trans- 
gression, and that therefore annihilation becomes 
the only appropriate destiny which awaits these 
tender objects of parental affection and solicitude. 
Truth obliges us to acknowledge that this cold 
and comfortless sentiment has been endorsed by 
some names entitled to consideration and respect. 
We think it, however, entirely at variance with 
the kind and gentle teachings of the blessed Ee- 
deemer, who, in addition to the previous utterance 
just referred to and recorded, has also said upon 
another occasion, with equal emphasis, that our 
admission into the kingdom of heaven depends 
upon our moral resemblance of these little ones, 
"For," says Jesus, "except ye be converted and 
become as one of these little ones, ye shall in no 
wise enter into the kingdom of God.'^ 



54 A L C Y X E . OR HEAVEN. 

A qiiestioB. more curious than important, has 
been submitted for consideration in connection 
with this branch of the subject, as to the fact 
whether little children who have died in infancy 
and childhood, and have gone to renew their ho- 
sannahs to the Son of David in the temple of 
uncreated glorv above, will always remain little 
children, or will pass throngh the various stages 
of childhood and adolescence until they reach 
their maturity in knowledge and stature. We 
confess ourselves nonplussed by this inquiry, but 
will nevertheless venture to say that if their con- 
tinued infantile existence is essential to the per- 
fection of heavenly society, they will be retained 
in that condition by the Lord of the realm. We 
have sometimes thought that, in accordance with 
the sentiment of Tupper, a child in a house is a 
well spring of pleasure; and a home, however at- 
tractive in its various appoinments and decora- 
tions, is hardly complete without a cradle and 
an occupant. It is not impossible that, in the 
absence of the conjugal relation, for in heaven 
"they neither marry nor are given in marriage," 
as the Scriptures inform us. it may be in accord- 
ance with the economv of our Father's house 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 55 

that these little ones should retain their original 
attractiveness and beauty. Upon this we may 
rest assured that whatever is essential to the de- 
velopment and cultivation of the purest and 
holiest affections of our sanctified and immortal 
existence will be established and ordained by the 
great and blessed Father of us all. This, of course, 
is a mere conjecture, prompted by the yearnings 
of parental affection, and has not the advantage 
of inspired revelation to sustain it, and must 
therefore be received and appreciated according 
to its intrinsic value and probability. 

Another peculiarity of Heaven is the complete 
and entire absence of all sectarianism and unchar- 
itahleness from the hearts and the worship of the 
redeemed. And this is, in our estimation, one of 
the most attractive features of the heavenly world 
and of the church triumphant. For wise and use- 
ful purposes, as we doubt not, the glorified Head 
of the Church has permitted his people to be di- 
vided into various sects and denominations in 
their passage through this wilderness of w^oe and 
sin. Constituted as we now are, encompassed 
with the infirmities incident to our fallen nature, 
we can readily see how this diversity of opinion 



56 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

may be so controlled as to become an element of 
usefulness by stimulating to activity and exertion 
those who might otherwise be inclined to inactiv- 
ity and sloth. An apparent evil has thus been 
overruled by Infinite Wisdom and Goodness, to 
the furtherance of that cause which should be 
dearer than life to the heart of every true friend 
of the Eedeemer. It not unfrequently happens, 
however, that an undue importance is attached to 
nonessential doctrines and the mere ceremonies 
of religion — the pericard of Christianity — and on 
account of these the most unseemly and bitter 
controveries have arisen to disturb the peace and 
mar the beauties of the fair heritage of God. 
These sad exhibitions of human infirmity and 
imperfection have caused more than one Jeremiah 
to weep in secret places, and to exclaim with a 
bleeding and almost breaking heart : "O that my 
head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, 
that I might weep day and night for the slain of 
the daughter of my people." Under the Old Test- 
ament dispensation forty-two thousand Ephraim- 
ites were cut off, because they could not pronounce 
the word shibboleth^ and since the Christian Era 
what bitterness of feeling and cruelty of action 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 57 

have been developed and displayed on account of 
an undue and unauthorized attachment to mere 
words and party'names. The seamless robe of the 
Eedeemer has been torn into fragments and scat- 
tered to the four winds of heaven on the fiery 
tempest of an angry and relentless controversy. 
But in the heav'eialy world all causes of sorrow 
and anxiety, upon this and kindred subjects, will 
disappear like the shadows of the night before the 
orient beams. Our denominational distinctions 
will all be lost before the overpowering brightness 
of the Cross of Christ and the unfading sublimities 
of the uj)per sanctuary. ISTo jarring notes will be 
heard in the empyreal temple to disturb the har- 
mony of that universal chorus which shall fire 
every heart and insj)ire every tongue. There we 
shall behold the Calvinist and the Arminian — the 
Lutheran and the Zuinglian — the Methodist and 
the Episcopalian — the Moravian and the Menon- 
nist — the Congregationalist and the Baptist — the 
Presbyterian and the Covenanter — and all others 
holding the essentials of Christianity, but who have 
been separated while in the house of their pil- 
grimage and in their militant state by considera- 
tions of greater or less magnitude — will lay aside 



58 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

their ecclesiastical armor and, concentrating their 
thoughts and affections upon the great central 
truth of our holy religion — salvation through the 
blood of the Lamb — will remember only to regret 
the fierceness of their conflicts while on the way. 
The mole-hill which had been magnified into a 
mountain will resume its proper proportions, 
amidst the splendors of Jehovah's throne and 
the unfolding wonders of redeeming love. The 
grating notes of bigotry and sectarianism will be 
lost and unheard in the rapturous songs of a uni- 
versal and undivided brotherhood, and the shibbo- 
leth of party will give place to the glad hosannahs 
of the blessed and the saved, and while the several 
tribes of the sacramental host of God's elect move 
in majestic harmony around the eternal throne 
of God and the Lamb, upon the ample folds 
of their snowy banners, the emblems of peace 
and joy, shall be seen floating in letters of living 
light the glad motto of heaven-born unity and 
love — 

•' Distinct as the billows, 
But one as the sea." 

Another kindred subject to be considered in this 
connection has respect to the 



Al/CYONE, OR HEAVEN, 59 

DEGREES OF GLORY 

which will exist in the heavenly world. 

The sacred Scriptures, in the richness and plen- 
titude of their revelations, have not left us in doubt 
on this interesting question. As if intended spe- 
cifically to meet this inquiry, we are told by the 
inspired Apostle in his sublime and conclusive ar- 
gument on the subject of the resurrection of the 
dead, ''that as one star differeth from another 
star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the 
dead." 

To the most superficial observer the variety 
which characterizes and distinguishes the works 
of God, both in the material and spiritual world, 
must be quite apparent. Look at Nature and see 
how one flower differs from another in fragrance 
and beauty. Look at the human countenance 
and see what an endless diversity prevails in fea- 
tures and expression, so that it may be safely 
averred that no two human faces are in all re- 
spects precisely alike. Look at the exhibitions of 
intellect and see what diversity of thought and 
sentiment exists in the great world of mind. 
Look at the dispositions and pursuits of men, and 
they are almost as diversified as the countenances 



60 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

and the intell-ect of tlieir possessors. And if you 
enter the icorld of grace^ if I may so speak, you 
will find the same diversity of expression and 
gifts among the disciples of the Eedeemer. Look 
at the diversity of character and experience as 
exhibited in the two sisters of Bethany, whom 
Jesus loved with equal affection. Look at the 
college of the apostles and see what diversity of 
character and disposition is presented to our con- 
templation. And if we enter heaven and survey 
the heavenly host, we shall find that, though holy 
and happy, they are nevertheless distinguished 
from each other by name, position, and attain- 
ment. We read of angels, archangels, cherumbim 
and seraphim — thrones, dominions, principalities, 
and powers. Should we not, then, reasonably in- 
fer that, in the analogy to the other works of 
God, there would be diversity and degrees of 
glory among the blessed and redeemed of earth? 
Now if we turn to the sacred Scriptures we shall 
find these suggestions and probabilities greatly 
strengthened if not fully established and confirm- 
ed. In the parable of the pounds, recorded in 
the 19th chapter of Luke, this question seems to 
be specifically settled beyond a peradventure or 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 61 

any reasonable doubt. Under the appropriate 
and suggestive similitude of a nobleman, going 
into a far country to receive a kingdom, and 
giving to his ten servants ten pounds to trade 
thereon until his return, he represents himself as 
ascending to heaven to reassume his throne, and, 
committing to his servants many gifts with which 
to promote their own salvation and that of their 
fellow-men, in things pertaining to the kingdom 
of God, until he should return to settle accounts 
amidst the august solemnities of the judgment- 
day. Upon a just and careful examination of 
their conduct, industry, and enterprise, it ap- 
peared that nine out of the ten had been dili- 
gent, but their diligence varied in degree and 
consequent results. They were all, however, gen- 
erously rewarded, ''and because they had been 
faithful over a few things, they were made rulers 
over many things." Yet their reward was differ- 
ent. While he whose pound had gained ten was 
appointed over ten cities, he whose pound had 
gained but five received a corresponding reward 
of being placed over five cities only. What could 
more conclusively prove that, while all true be- 
lievers in Christ and laborers in his vineyard shall 



bZ ALCYONE. OR HEAVEN. 

be welcomed with the plaudit of ••'well done.'' for 
there is but one formula of admission, --good and 
faithful servants, enter ye into the joys of your 
Lord/' yet there will be degrees of glory and sub- 
limity in the rewards that will be bestowed? By 
a careful perusal of the holy Scriptures, you can- 
not fail to discover that patriarchs, prophets, and 
apostles are uniformly represented as occupying 
a more conspicuous position, and as being invested 
with hicrher honors than ordinarv believers. Are 
the felicities of heaven represented under the at- 
tractive metaphor of a rich festival or feast? — 
Abraham. Isaac, and Jacob are found occupying 
the conspicuous and honorable position. Is the 
heavenly estate represented under the appropri- 
ate similitude of a kingdom ? — the twelve apostles 
are the distinguished occupants of as many 
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. If 
these illustrious servants of God are made thus 
to differ from subordinate Christians because of 
their greater fidelity in the cause of God and 
more enlarged capacity of enjoyment, why may 
not believers, for the same reasons, be made to 
differ from each other in the brightness of their 
armors and the splendor of their robes, as also in 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 63 

the capacity of tlieir enjoyment? There are ''the 
least^' as well as "the greatest'^ in the kingdom 
of God. 

In answer to all objections that may be urged 
against this teaching, it is proper to remark that, 
notwithstanding there may be this diversity of 
position and honor, alike demanded by every con- 
sideration of justice and propriety, all the inhab- 
itants of our Father's house in heaven will be 
completely happy and perfectly satisfied and con- 
tented with their appointed destiny, feeling that 
the humblest position which infinite Goodness and 
Mercy may assign them is unspeakably beyond 
their highest merits. 

" Thus while they sink their joys will rise 
Immeasurably high." 

The golden vessels may differ in the extent of 
their capacity and the richness of their adorn- 
ments, but they will all be filled to the brim, yea, 
to overflowing, when plunged into the ocean of 
celestial enjoyment. The diamonds that glitter 
in the Saviour's crown may differ in their weight 
and magnitude, but they are of the same water 
and perfection. All true believers will be permit- 
ted to enjoy the high honor of sitting together 



64 ALCYONEj OR HEAVEN. ' 

around the table at the marriage snpper of the 
Lamb, though all will not be favored with the 
higher privilege enjoyed by John, the beloved dis- 
ciple, of reclining upon the Saviour's bosom. 

Another question upon which information is 
earnestly desired, especially by those who mourn 
(and who does not?) over departed loved ones, is 
the probability or certainty that 

WE SHALL RECOGNIZE IN THE MANSIONS OF THE 
BLESSED, 

not only our relations from whom we have been 
separated by the hand of death, but also those 
who have been distinguished for eminent piety 
and Christian heroism, and whose names adorn 
the pages of the Bible and the records of the 
Church in her conflicts and her triumphs. 

We need hardly say that our opinion is in favor 
of the affirmative of this question, and the argu- 
ment, whether derived from reason or from Scrip- 
ture, seems to be satisfactory and conclusive. We 
pass over many considerations which might be 
appropriately urged, and select those only which 
are within the reach of an easy comprehension. 
It seems to be reasonable to conclude that good 
men — born in the same country — of the same 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 65 

blood — in the siime age of the world— brought 
up together under the same institutions — enjoy- 
ing the same instructions — sharing in the same 
sympathies — and having the same religious expe- 
rience — should continue their knowledge of each 
other in a spiritual world of which the Church 
upon earth is but the portico or vestibule. Can 
the thought be reasonably favored or indulged 
that sensible, rational, and religious beings, after 
having been acquainted with each other on this 
, mundane sphere, and having enjoyed the pleasures 
of Christian friendship and the joys of spiritual 
intercourse and communion, after a brief sojourn 
together in this vale of tears, upon being trans- 
planted to a brighter and a holier scene, should, 
upon this transfer, become immediately oblivious 
to all that was pleasant and joyous in their pre- 
vious intercourse? Is it not more reasonable to 
believe that the future life in glory will be a 
development of the present state of existence, 
especially with those who have answered the ob- 
ject or purposes of their creation, which is "to 
glorify God and to enjoy Him forever," and that 
the mental faculties will be enlarged and perfect- 
ed rather than weakened or annihilated, so that 
5 



ijQ ALCYONE, OR HEAVE^N. 

memory^ tlic historian of the soul, may perform 
its appropriate functions in recalling the features 
and the * attributes of those whom we revered 
and loved? And as if further to dissipate all 
doubt upon this subject o^ heavenly recognition^ 
our blessed Eedeemer, in language already quoted 
for another ])urpose, has represented heaven under 
the attractive imager}^ of His Father's House^ in 
which his people are to dwell with him forever. 
"In my Father's house are many mansions; I go 
to prepare a place for you, that where I am there 
ye may be also." If there is any analogy be- 
tween our Father's house above and our earthly 
homes — and to teach this was evidently our Sa- 
viour's object in employing this lovelj^ and at; 
tractive similitude — then there must be not only 
recognition but affectionate intercourse among 
the occupants. Will it be -possible for us to dwell 
together, through interminable ages, under the 
same paternal roof, sit at the same table, partake 
of the same provisions, kneel at the feet of the 
same heavenly instructor, and -sing the same 
songs of redeeming love, and yet not recognize 
each other, but remain strangers, without identity 
of sympathy or interest? It cannot he! 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 67/ 

The dwelling place of Christ's people is also 
represented, as we have already seen, under the 
appropriate similitude of "a City which has foun- 
dations, whose maker and builder is God." The 
beloved disciple, while in exile on the Isle of Pat- 
mos, furnished us with a glimpse of that city.in 
his apocalyptic vision, and has authoritatively d^^- 
scribed its proportions, its foundations of sapphire, 
its jasper walls, its pearly gates, and its golden 
str*eets, and the delightful intermingling of its 
bright and happy inhabitants, who sing in | de- 
lightful harmony of song the never-ending dox- 

ology of glory and honor and majesty atid plight, 

Aj-y'"" 
to Him that sitteth upon the thi^One and to the 

Lamb forever. Now can we be sensible of our 
own identity, and thus mingle with each other as 
denizens of the city of God, worship in the same 
temple, engage in the same pursuits, transact 
business, if we may so speak, at the same mart, 
and yet not know each other? It is possible, I 
admit; but is it probable? Our friends who dwell 
in that celestial city, will they not be accessible 
to their friends, and will they not fly to each 
other's embraces, and hasten to renew the friend- 
ship and intercourse which may have been inter- 



68 ALCYONE, OR HEAVE N, 

rupted for a brief space by the relentless hand of 
death? By a reference to the history of the past 
and remote ages, we find that the most enlight- 
ened sages of antiquity, although not favored 
with the light of revelation, accept this doctrine 
of future and joyful recognition, not only with 
unhesitating confidence, but with rapturous de- 
light! Seneca, Socrates, and Cato^, in almost the 
same language, express their joy at being re- 
ceived into communion with their early associ- 
ates and friends, w^ho had gone before them to 
enjoy the presence and mingle in the worship 
of their imaginary gods or deities, amidst the 
flowers and the rivulets of their Elysian fields. 
The same dim light which taught them the im- 
mortality of the soul, led them to believe in the 
reunion of departed friends, and their happy re- 
cognition of each other in the spirit world. Now 
we admit that it would be unwise, perhaps offen- 
sive to God our heavenly Father, who sent His 
Son into the world to bring "life and immortality 
to light, '^ for us to resort to the oracles of pagan- 
ism in order to be instructed in relation to any of 
the doctrines of our holy Christianity, but it can- 
not be improper for us to yield an attentive and 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 69 

even a reverential respect when their teachings 
are found to be not only not antagonistic but in 
beautiful accordance with the sublime revelations 
of God's holy word; and it is peculiarly gratify- 
ing to know and to record the fact that what is 
suggested by the oracles of enlightened pagan- 
ism in relation to this particular topic, is accepted 
. and confirmed by the sure word of prophecy. 
In opening the sacred Scriptures — the perennial 
fountain of heavenly light — all the mists of doubt 
and uncertainty upon this and kindred subjects 
vanish like the snow wreath before the meridian 
fire of a summer sun, and what reason and con- 
jecture had made probable, now becomes, in our 
judgment, sure and certain. Like the doctrine 
of the immortality of the soul, it is not asserted 
in express terms, but recognized as an admitted 
truth. 

It is worthy of general remark that all the 
patriarchs of the Old Testament, when drawing 
near the end of life's chequered journey, serenely 
resigned their bodies to the repose of the grave, 
while in the immortality of their being they an- 
ticipated a speedy reunion with their pious ances- 
tors in the paradise of beatitude and glory. In 



70 ALCYOXEj OE HEAYEN. 

several places of the Old Testament Scriptures 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are represented as 
being united in their celestial abode. Our blessed 
Eedeemer expressly says, in a passage already 
quoted for a different use. that many shall come 
from the east and the Trest, from the north and 
the south, and shall sit down with Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. But if 
we shall know these patriarchs among the shining 
throng of the blessed, why shall we not also know, 
and more readily too, those with whom we have 
been associated in relations and sympathies more 
intimate and affectionate ? If Isaac found in 
heaven his father Abraham and his son Jacob, 
why may not other fathers and other sons find 
and einbrace the objects of their affection and 
love ? If we open the Xew Testament Scrip- 
ttires. we find the transfiguration scene pouring 
a flood of heavenly light upon the present inter- 
esting inquiry. There appeared upon that radi- 
ant theatre the great representative men of the 
Old Testament dispensation — Moses, the giver of 
the law, Eiias or Elijah, the restorer of the law, 
and Christ, the fulfiller of the law— thus illustrate 
ino- the harmony of the two dispensations, and 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 71 

at the same time affording us a glimpse of the 
heavenly world, with the reunion and recognition 
of its inhabitants; for if Moses and Elias, though 
strangers upon earth to each other, may become 
thus acquainted and associated in the heavenly 
world, why may not Paul and Calvin, or John 
and Melancthon, Stephen and Luther, and es- 
pecially those who have been previously asso- 
ciated in labor and privilege and affection, enjoy 
the same privilege? Why may not the writer and 
reader of these pages meet and know and love 
each other in the heavenly world? The primitive 
Christians, as well as many others in more recent 
times, distinguished for their piety and intelli- 
gence, have believed and rejoiced in this same 
delightful and animating doctrine. 

But to indulge in this line of remark would lead 
us far beyond the limits which we prescribed for 
the dimensions of this humble and unpretending 
volume, and we must therefore leave this branch 
of the subject to be further elaborated by those 
whose inclinations may lead them in that direc- 
tion. 

If the question should be asked, how soon after 
death shall we become acquainted with each other? 



72 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

we answer, but without antlioritv and only as a 
reasonable supposition, that we shall recognize 
each other and our departed loved ones imme- 
diately upon our entrance into heaven and our 
recovery from the delightful bewilderment which 
will absorb our souls; or, perhaps, it would be 
safer to say so soon as -you can withdraw your 
admiring and grateful attention from the sublime 
and overpowering vision of -'the Throne of God 
and the Lamb." How long that thrice sacred 
charm may last we cannot tell. If the kindred 
interrogatory should be propounded as to the 
manner in which this recoo-nition is to be brouo;ht 
about, we can only suggest the probability of 
Divine revelation, information, recollection, or 
mutual discourse. By one or the other of these 
agencies, or by all combined, this desirable result 
may be readily accomplished. We do not feel 
prepared to adopt, but modestly dissent from, the 
opinion of Irejiceus, one of the most renowned of 
the early fathers in the Church, '-that separate 
souls retain the likeness and figure of their bodies, 
so that they may still be known thereby in the 
heavenly world." 

Nor are we willing to say that even in the 



73 

resurrection morning, when the bodies of the 
righteous shall rise beautified and immortal, that 
we shall be able to recognize the face and features 
of our friends, because we can have no accurate 
conception of the change which the transforma- 
tion from a natural to a spiritual — a corruptible 
to an incorruptible body — will produce, unless we 
accept, as perhaps we may do, with safety, the 
appearance of Moses and Elias on the Mount of 
Transfiguration, as furnishing us with an exhibi- 
tion of the extent and character of that change. 
If that be so, it is probable that the contrast be- 
tween the rags of human flesh which we now 
wear and the robes of angelic light — for w^e shall 
be like the angels — with which we shall then be 
adorned, will obscure, if not annihilate, the dis- 
tinctive features of the sad and wearied counte- 
nances which are now too often exhibited eve a 
by the heirs of an immortal inheritance. But 
although we may not be able, with the partial 
light which we now possess — for ''we see through 
a glass darkly '^ — to indicate the precise manner 
whereby we shall recognize each other in the 
world of light, yet there seems to be no room for 
reasonable doubt that we shall obtain that knowh 



74 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

edge in the way and manner which Infinite Good- 
ness and Wisdom shall prescribe. There is noth- 
ing unreasonable or un^criptural, as Dr. Eidgley 
observes, in the supposition that we shall know 
each other in the same manner that Adam knew 
that Eve was a part of himself, though tlie mys- 
terious surgical operation, if we may so speak, 
was performed while he was under the oblivious 
power of a profound and unconscious sleep. "For 
when Adam w^oke up out of sleep he said, this is 
now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she 
shall be called woman, because she was taken out 
of man.^' 

Before we dismiss this branch of the subject of 
heavenly recognition, it may be proper to notice, 
briefly, the most formidable objection which is 
urged against this doctrine, and which is usually 
presented in the form of an anxious interrogatory, 
viz.: If we shall recognise each other in heaven, 
how can we be perfectly happy, when we find 
that some of the dear loved ones of earth are not 
among the redeemed ones in heaven? In reply 
to this suggestion, it may be remarked that the 
relations of this life will not be perpetuated in 
the heavenly state, for in that bright and glorious 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. ' 75 

world 'Hhey neither marry nor are given in mar- 
riage, but are like unto the angels/' and therefore, 
while we shall recognize each other as having sus- 
tained these tender relations whi^ch now bind us 
together, and will doubtless feel a special tender- 
ness towards one another on that account, 3^et their 
absence will not be allowed to interfere with the 
universal felicity which will spring from our inter- 
course with those with whom we shall form a new 
and nobler relationship, springing from our mu- 
tual union to God and the Lamb. This will be 
the only relationship which will be recognized 
in heaven, and the relations of earth will be re- 
garded as among the thiugs that were, but are 
not. ^' When that which is perfect is come, then 
that which is in part shall be done away." More- 
over, in the heavenly world our wills, now so 
often found in rebellion against the throne of 
Eternal Majesty^ will then be so completely ab- 
sorbed in the mind and will of God, that v^^e shall 
yield a ready acquiesence to whatever Infinite 
Wisdom shall see fit to appoint or ordain, even 
though it should disturb our fondest earthly an- 
ticipations and desires. 



76 ALCYONE. OR HEAVEN. 

Another question, perhaps more curious than 
important, has respect to the 

LANGUAGE OR VEHICLE OF COAIMUNICATION 

which will be employed by the blessed in heaven. 
There will be some mode or manner of communi- 
cating their thoughts and feelings to each other, 
otherwise the social character of heaven must he 
ignored and rejected. It is not to be supposed 
that the inhabitants of heaven, bright and cheer- 
ful as they undoubtedly will be, are to be doomed 
to perpetual silence, or that they will employ the 
merciful discovery of significant signs, which our 
afflicted fellow-creatures here upon earth who, 
having been deprived of the power of speech, 
have resorted to in order to interchanore their 
thoughts and feelings with each other. The lan- 
guage of icords seems to be the divinely appointed 
channel or method of communication, and, so far 
as we can tell or conjecture, the Hthreic was the 
language used upon earth anterior to the confu- 
sion of tongues at the tower of Babel, and we are 
left free to infer that it was divinely taught to 
those who first employed or used it. The Hebrew 
language, moreover, was the language spoken by 
the chosen people of God, which is strong pre- 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 77 

sumptive evidence of the divine preference. Our 
Saviour, no doubt, frequently employed this lan- 
guage during the period of his sojourn upon earth, 
in his private conversation and in his public ad- 
dresses before the people, although it was in the 
Syriac language that the Eedeemer uttered the 
av^ful cry of dereliction, "^'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabach- 
thani!" which, being interpreted, is ''My God, my 
God! why hast thou forsaken me?" And when, 
from the heights of his exaltation, he addressed 
the persecuting Saul of Tarsus, on the suburbs of 
Damascus, it was in the Hebrew tongue that he 
challenged the bold blasphemer in the ever-mem- 
orable words of reproach and inquiry, "Saul, Saul, 
why persecutest thou me?" In the song of the 
redeemed, which will forever reverberate through 
the high arches of the upper sanctuary, the beau- 
tiful and expressive word hallelujah is permitted 
to retain its Hebrew form, and thus become a 
stanza in the sempiternal song of the redeemed, 
which is to be without intermission and without 
end. It may be regarded as fanciful, but we will 
nevertheless venture the suggestion that, in the 
order of Providence, which tunes alike the harp 
of the seraph and the song of the nightingale, 



78 

there is an adaptation of language to particular 
subjects which seems to be instinctively recog- 
nized by the wise and learned of all nations. 
That whilst other languages, such as the Greek 
and Latin, and French and German, have their 
appropriate places and functions in the realm 
of human science and literature — the one for 
laii\ another for science^ another for art^ and an- 
other for metaphysics — by common consent the 
Hebrew asserts its higher prerogatives as the al- 
pha and omega, the first and the last of all the 
languages of earth and heaven, and seems to be 
regarded as too holy for the ordinary or vulgar 
uses. For these and similar considerations we 
accept and adopt the opinion that the Hebrew 
vv^ill be the prevailing language of heaven. If the 
question should be asked when and where this 
language is to be learned, we invite the atten- 
tion of the sedate inquirer — and wc recognize 
no other — to the miraculous endowments of the 
apostles on the day of Pentecost, when the unlet- 
tered apostles were enabled to speak not one only, 
but half a score of languages, which they had . 
never learned, and by which all the representa- 
tives of the surrounding nations, "Parthians, and 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 79 

Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Meso- 
potamia, and in Jndea, and Cappadoeia, in Pontus, 
and Asia, Pbrygia, and PaEipbylia, in Egypt, and 
in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, and strangers 
of Eome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Ara- 
bians, were enabled to hear and understand in 
their own tongues the wonderful works of God." 
The same omnific power which confounded the 
languages of the presumptuous builders of the 
Tower of Babel, on the plains of Shinar, can, as 
we have just seen, with equal facility restore to 
unity and harmony all the languages, multiform 
and discordant as they now are, which worry and 
afflict the nations of the earth, and thus furnish 
a common medium of communication to the re- 
deemed of all nations, kindred, languages, and 
people, who will compose the society and brother- 
hood of heaven. One thing is certain, there will 
be no jarring notes and no discordant sounds to 
disturb the sw^eet melody which shall flow and 
warble on the tongues and the harps of ten thou- 
r^and times ten thousand and thousands of thou- 
sands, who shall swell the undying cloxology — 
''Unto Him that loved us and ^Vashed us from our 
sins in His own blood, to Him be glory and honor 



80 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

and majesty and might and dominion, forever and 
ever. Amen.^' 

In the foregoing pages we have, to a considera- 
ble extent, anticipated what might be properly 
said on the employments of the heavenly world. 
We ma}", however, remark that heaven is not a 
place of idleness or inactivity. All the descrip- 
tions of that bright and glorious dwelling place 
of God's redeemed children represent it as a con- 
dition of ceaseless emj^loyment. The glorified in- 
habitants cease not, day nor night, to celebrate 
the wonders of redeeming love. There will be, 
however, we are taught to believe, an entire ab- 
sence of all sensation of weariness or fatigue. 
The mind will be calm and peaceful, with no dis- 
tracting cares to disturb its sweet and heavenly 
repose; no pain or suffering of body to mar our 
enjoyments; no bereavements to fill oar souls 
with anguish; no disaj)pointments to worry and 
perplex us; no rudeness to wound our sensibili- 
ties; no ingratitude, with the sharpness of the 
serpent's tooth, to pierce our hearts; no calumnies 
to kindle and fire our indignation; no destitution 
to test our submission; no ignorance to shame or 
bewilder us; no evil world, with its false glare 



ALOYONE, OR HEAVEN. 



81 



and glitter, to allure and absorb our affections; 
BO impious companions to beguile us from virtue 
and from God; no law in the members warring 
against the law of the niind, bringing us into 
captivity to the law of sin which is in our mem- 
bers; no Satan to tempt us — he once gained ad- 
mittance into the earthly Paradise, but from the 
heavenly Eden he is forever excluded. In a word, 
there will be a total absence of everything that 
can in the remotest manner disturb our peace 
or tempt us to sin. When, in obedience to our 
heavenly Father's behest, we shall drop these 
shackles of mortality into the grave, our emanci- 
pated spirits, freed from all incumbrance, shall 
mount up, light and joyful, to a reconciled God 
and Father, and repose forever in the bosom of 
everlasting love. And while, as already intimated, 
we shall be freed from everything that can vex 
or annoy, we shall be permitted to drink freely 
of the water of life, clear as crystal, which flows 
out from underneath the throne of God and 
the Lamb, and eat of the immortal fruits which 
hang in golden clusters upon the overshadowing 
branches of the tree of life, which stands on the 
6 



82 ALCYONEj OR HEAVEN. 

banks of the river in the midst of the Paradise 
of Grod. 

THE GRANDEUR OF HEAVEN 

has been reserved for the concluding topic of this 
treatise, and we know not how we can better pre- 
sent this feature of the heavenly world than by 
employing the sublime words of inspiration as re- 
corded in the 21st chapter of the Apocalypse of 
Saint John : 

"And there came unto me one of the seven an- 
gels which had the seven vials full of the seven 
last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come 
hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great 
and high mountain, and showed me that great 
city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven 
from God, having the glory of God: and her light 
was like unto a stone most precious, even like a 
jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great 
and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates 
twelve angels, and names written thereon, which 
are the names of the twelve tribes of the children 
of Israel. On the east three gates; on the north 
three gates; on the south three gates; and on the 
west three gates. And the wall of the city had 



I 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 83 

twelve foundations, and in them the names of the 
twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he th'at talked 
with me had a golden reed to measure the city, 
and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And 
the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as 
large as the breadth; and he measured the city 
with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The 
length and the breadth and the height of it are 
equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an 
hundred and forty and four cubits, according to 
the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And 
the building of the wall of it was of jasper; and 
the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 
And the foundations of the v/all of the city were 
garnished with all manner of precious stones. 
The first foundation was jasper; the second, sap- 
phire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an em- 
erald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the 
seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, 
a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, 
a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the 
twelve gates were twelve pearls ; every several 
gate was one pearl: and the street of the city was 
of pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I 
saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty 



84 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN, 

and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city 
had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to 
shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, 
and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the na- 
tions qf them which are saved shall walk in the 
light of it : and the kings of the earth do bring 
their glory and honor into it. And the gates of 
it shall, not be shut at all by day: for there shall 
be no night there. And they .shall bring the 
glory and honor of the nations into it. And there 
shall in no wise enter into it anything that de- 
fileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, 
or maketh a lie : but they which are written in 
the Lamb's book of life." 

To attempt to improve this inspired description 
of the heavenly city by the adornments of human 
language, would be like painting the lily or bur- 
nishing the sun. The pen, held by any other than 
a divine hand, would grow weary, and the imagin- 
ation, even though it were that of the rapt seraph 
that glows and burns before the viewless throne 
of Jehovah, would hesitate and decline the adven- 
turous task. '-For eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 85 

the things which God hath prepared for them that 
love him." 

Id accordance with these bright and joyous an- 
ticipations, we may bring our reflections on these 
several topics to a close by giving attention to 
the cheering conviction, founded on the promise 
of Him whose word cannot fail of its complete 
accomplishment, that when, in obedience to His re- 
sistless fiat, we shall drop these garments of mor- 
tality into the grave, our immortal spirits washed 
and sanctified by atoning blood, shall mount up, 
light and joyful, to God their original, that they 
shall be carried through the unbounded regions 
of eternal day, that they shall behold the mutual 
and ever-blooming joys of saints who are at rest 
from their labors, and with a vision made strong 
by immortality, these unfettered spirits shall gaze, 
upon Jesus, who is fairer than all the rest of the 
sons of men. 01 what joy to contemplate this 
object! What light! when the rays of the Deity, 
always too bright for mortal eyes to behold, shall 
be softened to our sight in the person of the Lord 
Jesus! The adorable Father, the Lamb of love, 
the Spirit of all holiness, shall be the objects of 
our contemplation. There love shall reign trium- 



86 ■ ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

phant in every breast ; every pure and celestial 
desire shall be gratified to the full; every holy 
and devout affection shall find its adequate supply 
in the boundless ocean of Jehovah's love; and one 
uninterruj)ted scene of thankfulness, serenity, and 
comfort, shall reign eternally there. There the 
harps of ten thousand times ten thousand shall 
be tuned to the praises of the Father of mercies 
and the Lamb, who sitteth upon the throne for- 
ever and ever. "We shall drink of the full and 
flowing golden bowl of celestial enjoyment, and 
bathe our weary souls forever in the shoreless 
ocean of God's eternal love. 

Onward, then, weary pilgrim — onward to your 
bright mansion in the skies I With the star of 
Bethlehem for your guide, and the arm of Omnip- 
otence for your protection, you have nothing to 
fear from the power or malice of any earthly 
adversary. The voice of Omnipotence, which 
calmed the raging Tiberias, will hush to silence 
every foe. Let the motto of your escutcheon, 
fhen, be ^^ Onward and upiuard^'' through the grace 
and strength of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
to whom be glory as it was, is now, and ever shall 
be, world without end! 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 87 

There are other topics connected with this 
sublime and interesting subject which might be 
discussed and considered, but we have reached the 
outer limits which we had assigned to this inquiry, 
and we now hasten to a conclusion, by presenting 
in a brief, but we trust a lucid manner the terms 
of admission into the city of our God. " For not 
every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall 
inherit the kingdom of God, but he that doeth the 
will of my Father who is in heaven." 

" Those holy gates forever bar, 
Polutioii, sin, and shame ; 
None shaU obtain admittance there, 
But followers of the Lamb." 

It is evident 'from the teachings of the word of 
God, confirmed by observation and by our own sad 
and* melancholy experience, that we are not by 
nature qualified or prepared to participate in the 
employments and enjoyments of the heavenly 
state. Without entering into the historical details 
of the first and great transgression — great because 
of its fearful bearings and results — it is sufficient 
for our present purpose to say that, in the be- 
ginning of our eventful history, God created 
Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden 



88 ALCYONE. OR HEAVEN. 

as tlie Federal Head and representative of our 
race. As the tenant or occupant of a gai'den 
nothing could be more suitable and appropriate, 
as a test of his fidelity and obedience, than the 
command to abstain from eating the fruit of a 
particular tree. This test was accordingly in- 
stituted and appointed in the following emphatic 
words : "And God said of all the trees in the 
garden thou mavst freelv eat. but of the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil thoti shalt not eat 
thereof, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou 
shalt surely die." We are aware that infidels 
make themselves merry over this simple record of 
man's probationary history as presenting the con- 
ditions of lAje and death — temporal, spiritual, and 
eternal — and regard it as unworthy the reputed 
source whence the terms emanated, and the Mag- 
nitude of the results which are claimed to have 
depended upon those terms. But upon a mind 
accustomed to regard the teachings of God's word 
with an humble and submissive spirit, directly the 
opposite impressions will be produced. The more 
simple and easy of observance the test might be 
the more would it evince the goodness of God 
on the one hand, in makins: the conditions of life 



ALCYONEj OR HEAVEN. 89 

SO easy, and so completely within the reach of 
Adam's ability, and the more would the failure to 
comply with these easy and convenient conditions 
aggravate his ingratitude, and make his disobedi- 
ence less capable of apology or defence. In the 
divine economy of man's destiny for the future of 
his history, our Federal Head and representative 
was created — 

Able to stand, 
But free to fall. 

He voluntarily chose the latter alternative of 
his eventful capability, and reaching forth the 
hand of defiance against the high behests of Hea- 
ven, he partook of the forbidden fruit, and thereby 
brought upon himself and his unborn posterity 
the fearful consequences of his disobedience, Avhich 
was, as already intimated, death — temporal, spir- 
itual, and eternal. ''Thus by the disobedience of 
one man many were made sinners," and thus are 
we made the proprietors of a depraved, fallen, 
ruined nature. Omitting all the theological tech- 
nicalities connected with the fruitful subject of 
original sin — fruitful of ruin and controversy, we 
may safely say that we, the posterity of Adam, 
have accepted the sad condition in which his 



90 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

disobedience has placed us, and have virtually- 
endorsed his sin, which made, us depraved and 
ruined, by adding thereto innumerable actual 
transgressions. Now, in this condition we are not 
fit to enter the kingdom of God, nor qualified to 
enjoy its holy and immaculate society and service. 
The question is then presented with an emphasis 
the most solemn and impressive — How can we get 
rid of this disqualification for admission into the 
society of the blessed and the saved? How can 
we recover the lost image and favor of our Crea- 
tor? How can we obtain the pardon of our sin, 
and secure access to the tree of life? These are 
questions of the greatest magnitude, and of the 
most absorbing interest — questions which the fur- 
thest-going imagination, and the deepest-going 
conception, could never have answered — a being 
that had been born in heaven, and had lit his in- 
tellect at the throne of light, and fed it from off 
that throne's radiance, never could have planned 
a scheme of reconciliation. No angePs mind, in 
its boldest and most adventurous excursion, would 
have ventured the thought that One of the Holy 
Ones would interpose, yet so it was. God looked, 
and there was none to help, and he wondered that 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 91 

there was none to uphold ; therefore his own arm 
brought salvation. The Son of God bowed him- 
self to the burden of a world's redemption, and 
contracted with his Father to perform that obedi- 
snce which man had failed to perform, and to en- 
lure that penalty which man was bound to endure. 
By that life of strict obedience which He lived, and 
that death of extreme suffering which He died, 
He has honored both the precept and the penalty 
of the divine law ; and now to pardon such guilty, 
ill-deserving sinners as wO are, is a dispensation 
divested of all inconsistency and of all impro- 
priety. God can now be just and the justifier of the 
sinner that will believe in Jesus. Our sins being 
imputed to Christ, and Christ's righteousness be- 
ing imputed to us, all that now remains for us 
to do is, by sincere repentance towards God, on 
account of our sins, and by an act of simple faith, 
believing confidence, in the Lord Jesus Christ, as 
our adorable substitute, to release ourselves from 
the dread penalty of God's righteous law, and se- 
cure the blessings of life and salvation. This is 
the righteousness of the saints, in which the 
apostle exults when he says: "I count all things 
but loss that I may win Christ and be found in 



92 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

iiim, not having on my own righteousness, which 
is of the law, but the righteousness of Christ, 
which is by faith." 

Now, it seems from all this, that repentance to- 
wards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, are 
the simple but only terms of tid mission into the 
kingdom of heaven. Surely, it cannot be neces- 
sary to multiply words to explain the emotion of 
sorroio for a causeless oifence committed against a 
faithful and a precious friend. Such a friend is 
God, and such is the character of the offence 
which you have committed against him. Can you 
not be sorry for this offence, and resolve in His 
strength never to repeat it again ? That is all the 
repentance which God requires to secure your for- 
giveness, and the enrollment of your name in the 
Lamb's book of life. With regard to faith^ you 
surelj^ know what it is to exercise confidence in a 
friend who has never disappointed or betrayed 
you, but has stood by you in prosperity and ad- 
versity, in clouds and sunshine, in smiles and in 
tears. Such a friend is Jesus. Can you not be- 
lieve in his name? Can you not trust in his word? 
Can you not commit all your interests for time and 
eternity to His keeping? Can you not entrust 



ALCtONE, OR HE A YEN. 93 

even your soul to his strong and faithful hand? 
Eenoimcing all other dependence, can you not 
repose upon Him as the Eock of eternal ages? 
Deeply sensible of our own helplessness, insuffi- 
.ciency, and spiritual destitution, are yon ready to 
say, in the language of penitence and faith — 

Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that thy blood was shed for me. 
And that thou bidst me com.e to thee, 
I come, O LamLb of God, I comie. 

When you possess those qualifications of peni- 
fence and faith, your passport to the mansions of 
of the blessed and saved is secure beyond a perad- 
venture. Eeader, permit the inquiry — Have you 
these qualifications? If so, we congratulate you 
on the bright and glorious destiny which awaits 
you — glory, honor, immortality, eternal life. In a 
little while the conflicts of life will be over, and 
the great captain of your salvation v\^ill beckon 
you away to your glorious reward, and taking of 
the water of life as it gushes out from underneath 
the throne, he will with his own blessed hand, 
which was pierced for your sins, wash away the 
dust and the blood of the battle from your brow, 
and place upon your head a crown whose lustre 



94 ALCYONE, OR HE A*S^ EN. 

will outshine ten thousand suns. Have you not 
these qualifications for admission into the king- 
dom of glory? O seek them without delay. The 
Saviour of the world is exalted to grant repent- 
ance and forgiveness of sins. O seek, by earnest 
prayer and supplications, these priceless blessings. 
Ask for the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Hasten 
to the sweet embraces of the Eedeemer of the lost 
and the perishing. Tly to the clefts of the Eock 
that was smitten for you. Take refuge beneath 
the shadow of the cross on which the Saviour 
bled — for there no thunder rolls — no wrath de- 
scends — no vengeance burns! Accept with pen- 
itence and gratitude the blood-bought pardon 
which is tenderl}^ proffered to you by the very 
hand that was pierced and lacerated for your 
sins! Then when the eventful hour of your de- 
jkarture shall have come — when the flame of life 
is trembling and flickering in the socket — when 
the light of the heavenly world is sending its 
revelations across your mind — when the waves of 
eternity are rolling and roaring about your feet, 
and your pardoned spirit is spreading its wings 
for flight to that eternal future that lies beyond 
the tomb — the pearly gates of Heaven will fly 



ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 95 

open for your admission, and angels, clad in robes 
of celestial light and love, will stand ready to con- 
duct you to your well-appointed and richly-fur- 
nished mansion in your '^Father's Housed And, 
like Noah in the ark, when it had settled upon 
Mount Ararat, enjoying a sense of perfect safety 
from all future harm, yon will look back from 
your secure and lofty elevation over the voyage 
of an anxious and perhaps troubled life, and the 
winds and the weaves having been hushed to per- 
petual silence, you will enjoy the everlasting calm 
and repose of Heaven, and gaze with rapture 
and delight, unmixed with doubt or fear, upon 
the ^h^ainiow^ like unto an emerald^' — the emblem 
of perpetual peace and safety^ which will encircle 
and beautify ^^the throne of God and the Lamb for- 
ever and ever!'' And to make their happiness 
and holiness complete^ the souls and bodies of the 
righteous, having in the intermediate state — the 
period intervening between the hour of death 
and the resurrection day — been subjected to a 
temporary separation, will, on the morning of 
that eventful day, be reunited in inseparable ' 
bonds, and thus, in the completeness of their beinrfy 
will participate in the sublime deliberations of 



96 ALCYONE, OR HEAVEN. 

the General Assembly and Church of the First 
Born, whose names are written in Heaven ! 

The writer has thus completed the task which 
he had assigned to himself. He is more sensible 
than any one else can possibly be of the imperfec- 
tions which attach to his work. The subject is 
worthy of an abler pen and a more imposing 
result. But if what he has written shall be in- 
strumental in awakening further inquiry on this 
sublime subject, or of conveying comfort to one 
anxious or desponding heart, or of shedding a 
solitary ray of light upon the pathway of one 
weary pilgrim on his way to the Celestial City, 
he will feel that his ambition ought to be satisfied, 
and that he has not employed his humble and un- 
skillful pen in vain. 

"v/hat is writ is writ, 
Would it weke worthier." 



Alcyone. 



Where is the star, Alcyone ? 
Gaze far beyond the milky Way, 
Find where the Pleiades gently sway 
All worlds, all systems, as they roll, 
Where dwells the Elemental Soul, 
Where nights have ceased and light to bless 
Beams from the Sun of Righteousness ; 

There is the star Alcyone. 

Who point us to Alcyone? 
The leader who on Pisgah stood, 
And saw sweet fields beyond the flood, 
They who, in ancient, classic years, 
Proclaimed the harmony of spheres, 
The prophet's Vt^ord, the poet's eye, 
The flowers below, the stars on high, 

All point us to Alcyone. 

Who reigns in far Alcyone ? 
Who rules the waves and thunder loud, 
Who led in pillar and in cloud. 
Who bids the starry systems burn. 
The comets wheel, the planets turn. 



A L C Y ON E . 

Whose word made light, whose arm is might. 
Archangels bow when in His sight ; 
He reigns in great Alcyone. 

But while thy lowers, Alcyone, 
With jealous guard Jehovah keeps 
The frailest fly, or thing that creeps 
On dungeon wall, can never fall, 
Unless our Heavenly Father call ; 
Be this, then, our sustaining trust, 
And, though in deaih laid dust to dust, 

These eyes shall see Alcyone. 

What learn they in Alcyone ? 
Of Him to whom wise men from far 
Came, guided bj' the glorious star ; 
They fijid high mansions^w^here is room 
For all who through the Saviour come ; 
On hidden way and darkened page, 
Here unrevealed to saint and sage. 

Thy light shall shine, Alcyone. 

In bowers of blest Alcyone, 
Bright choirs will sing, in harmony. 
The story of the One in Three, 
The Three in One, the great ^on, 
The Pore who did for sins atone, 
The blind shall see, the dumb make known 
Their joy and rapture round the throne 

Of Him who rules Alcj'one. 

Who now possess Alcyone? 
All thej^ who, for Emanuel's fame, 
Have borne the cross, the toil, the shame ; 



ALCYONE. 99 

All they who, in the precious fountain, 
Have washed their robes from every stain ; 
All they v/ho've climbed the glorious mountain, 
Found there the King who once was slain, 
And sought, with Him, Alcyone. 

When shall we reach Alcyone ? 
When the last trumpet loud shall call, 
The just shall rise, the ungodly fall ; 
When earth and seas shall roll in flame, 
When His high name, with glad acclaim. 
Re-echoes loud through all the spheres. 
And His advancing car appears. 

Then may we reach Alcyone ! 

As falls eclipse, Alcyone, 
On mariners o'er ocean tossed, 
So, when thy heavenly light is lost, . 
Black fears and doubts tempestous roll, 
And threaten to engulf my soul ; 
But, as I cry, comes One to save. 
He breaks the cloud. He walks the wave, 

And leads me to Alcyone. 

In thy bright realms, Alcyone, 
No tempest's jar, no sound oT war. 
Nor funeral bell, our peace will mar ; 
Those whom, while here, we hold so dear. 
We'll meet— no parting hour to fear; 
In thee shall faith be verified, ^ 
In thee God's love be magnified ; 

Home of true bliss, Alcyone ! 



100 ALCYONE. 

Alcyone! Alcyone! 
While here imprisoned far from thee, 
My soul pants, longing to be free ; 
O may a cheering, heavenly ray, 
Change fear to joy, change gloom, to day, 
Till, from this melting orb, I spring, 
And, passing through thy bright gates, sing 

God's praises in Alcyone. 



?■ 



ThB t3lBLE, 



LINES BY REV. SEPTIMUS TUSTIN, D. D. 

This Holy Book of God contains 
Tlie basis of our faith and love ; 

The sources of our hope it claims, 
And points to purest joys above. 

May all its sacred truths combine 
To make my spirit truly blest— 

Upon my future path to shine, 
And guide me to my heavenly rest. 

There, while through ages yet untold, 
The sun and stars grow pale with age, . 

This sacred book shall still unfold 
My Saviour's love, in every page. 

And when the trumpet's quick'ning blast, 
The day of wonders shall proclaim. 

And wake to life the mouldering past, 
This Book, unharmed, shall still remain. 

And when the bright celestial throng, 
Redeemed by precious blood divine. 

Shall vie with seraphs in their song. 
This Book with glory still shall shine. 

And while eternal ages roll, 
And weary time shall pause to rest. 

And heavenly wonders charm the soul, 
Shall I be still among the blest? 
The Cottage, Washington City. 



' Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?" — Job, xxxviii : 31, 



^ 
^ ^ 



^ ^ 



>f ^ 



NOTE. 

The Pleiades J a cluster of stars in the constellation, Tau- 
rus, are also termed Vergilice by the Latins, because they 
announce the advent of spring, and at their rise the sea- 
son again becomes mild, the earth loosens, vegetation 
revives, and nature puts forth buds and blossoms, and 
assumes her loveliest attire. The "sweet influences" 
refer to the beauty and amenity of spring, and it is 
asked by the inspired author of this sublime book if we 
can bind or hinder these lovely exhibitions of Divine 
power and goodness ? The original word chimahj trans- 
lated Pleiades, means hinge, axis, or pivot, and Alcyone 
being the largest of the group, and the astronomical cen- 
tre of the universe, around which all the planetary sys- 
tem revolves, the question is pertinently asked: Why 
may not Alcyone become, if it is not so already, the Pal- 
ace of Jehovah and the future dwelling place of His re- 
deemed peopled 



BY 

REV. SEPTIMUS TUSTIN, D. D. 
SECO^'D EDITipX. 



TESTIMONIALS, &o. 

Extract of a Letter to the Author, 

"Your little book, 'The Doubting Communicant En- 
couraged,' deserves to be written in letters of gold, for the 
comfort it has conveyed to at least one anxious heart." 

Extract from another Letter to the Author. 

. "I have read your little book with great pleasure, and 
I trust much profit, and, as a slight token of my appreci- 
tion of the value of the book and my high esteem of the 
author, I beg your acceptance of the enclosed check for 
tivo hundred dollars,''^ &c., &c. 



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